


Naturalize and Propagate

by MrMissMrsRandom



Category: Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Alternate Universe where Julius survives the extended Loptous Possession, Body Dysphoria, Domesticity, F/M, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Trauma, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:41:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrMissMrsRandom/pseuds/MrMissMrsRandom
Summary: Julius finds it difficult to think that he can create life when he spent so long taking it away.
Relationships: Altena (Fire Emblem)/Yurius | Julius
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	Naturalize and Propagate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Deetvar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deetvar/gifts).



If one lived outside of Thracia, one would think the Kapathogia mountain pass was an inhospitable place. Compared to other places, they would be right, but for some, it was a testament of the old kingdom’s endurance, when life continued to survive. There were many sturdy species that dotted the rocky summits, surviving on what could be found. Julius has also learned that, if treated with patience, small parts of land could spring forth new life. 

Zyraxes, Altena’s new wyvern mount, had taken multiple trips with transplanted soil so Julius would have a suitable starter to plant his garden. He was a young one, not yet taken to battle or mercenary work by the end of the war, and had a playfulness about him that her retired war mount, Magni, lacked, but he was still strong and listened to her commands.

Julius had always loved flowers, but they were difficult to cultivate at this altitude unless they were the native wildflowers that would bloom for a handful of weeks every early summer, so he made do with more hardy roots and tubers.

Julius had lost himself in considering the sprouts peeping through the soil only to find that one of the more friendly mountain goats had taken to nibbling the basket he was weaving.

“Oh, off with you!” He tapped its snout, and it returned with a bleat of indignation, before stomping off. He eyed what was left, then tossed it aside to start with new runners. 

He wanted to get this done today. Before Altena came for her furlough time tomorrow. And he wanted to have dinner started so she could have a warm meal ready after her fly. She might love the skies, but Julius knew that riding could be exhausting. 

It was strange, how such thoughts became a regular occurrence, but this far from civilization how the mind cleared of many unnecessary anxieties. For Julius, he should count himself lucky that he regained the ability to even  _ think _ for himself. 

When the war was at an end and Julius awoke, finally free from Loptous’s grasp on his body and mind, Julia welcomed him with a tear-stained face and an embrace that felt too tight. Their half-brother looked on, Tyrfing still held aloft. Just in case it was a trick. 

When Julia offered him rooms to stay in Bellhalla, after he recovered from his injuries, Julius declined them. Though his twin was welcoming, Seliph had only known him as the prince of darkness, the vessel of Loptous. But then, Julius was left with no other place to go. 

At first, he considered Verdane. Retiring to the Spirit Forest for the rest of his days, how his grandmother might have lived the rest of her life in blissful ignorance. But as he was leaving, a voice called out to him, and that voice was Altena.

She told him of a summer lodge that the Thracian royal family used to keep, so high in the mountains that it could only be accessed by air. A stronghold, a sanctuary. Julius accepted, not even thinking to ask why. 

Julius spent a year resting and repairing the lodge to somewhere habitable, while Altena made supply runs every fortnight or so for what he requested, stayed a day or so, and was off again. United Thracia needed her, so he never thought to ask her to stay longer. He was already grateful, and it was good to spend time just by himself, alone with his thoughts, for once. 

Yet, as one year became two, and two became three, Altena began to spend more and more time at the lodge, and when she was gone, Julius would find himself… growing more lonely. He had not recalled what loneliness felt like, until Altena told him herself. 

It was then that, perhaps, they had found that simple cohabitation had grown into something more. Julius was both elated but terrified. He had remembered-- parts, of his relationship with Ishtar. But not all of it. What if that was another key? What if his feelings were not genuine, but some hidden urge from that repulsive voice, hissing in his mind to  _ breed _ . 

The runners broke between his hands. 

Julius took deep breaths, in and out. In and out.

It was gone. Loptous was gone. It couldn’t come back, not unless it had another proper host. He was no longer a proper host.

He still went to his room and took out nail clippers, cutting his nails down to the quick, until the skin felt so tender he thought one stray prick might make him bleed. But they were not talons, not claws.

His hands were his own. 

* * *

“I want to make children.”

Julius looked up, his stew slipping off his spoon. 

“... But, we have been…” He stopped himself before continuing to say something stupid. They had been intimate, that was true. But Altena has always had him brew a strong drought of strange herbal tea the morning after to ensure no fruit would come from their labor. 

“I meant,” Altena reached over, taking his hand in hers. “That I want us to have a family, Julius.”

“... Oh,” Julius replied, wondering if the terror showed on his face, then righting in expression. “Are, are you sure? Your work with your brother…”

“The Thracian Peninsula and the Thracian people have seen more prosperity in these few years than the time of Njorun and Dain.” Altena’s eyes shined with a warmth that was heightened by the firelight bathing their mealtime. “I want to celebrate this new life by contributing to it, with you.”

Julius took in a quick, high breath. Altena would never joke about this, but if she wanted to… to have children, with him…

Did she truly understand the risk that held? 

But Altena’s hand was so warm, so assured, and Julius grew afraid or losing that steady grasp in his if he refused. Altena was a beautiful warrior princess, a guiding light of a new age. Who was to say she would not realize the error of her ways, and leave him alone on this mountaintop, if he disagreed. To find someone who would be better. 

“If you’re sure, Altena, then… I accept.” Julius tried his best to smile. 

Altena frowned, sensing his worry, but then nodded. 

“Ah, well, I suppose I got ahead of myself. Let’s finish dinner first. And thank you, Julius.” Altena squeezed his hand. “You don’t know how happy this makes me.” 

* * *

Altena emerged from her bath, but instead of dressing, she walked to him in only her sheet, then turned so he could comb her hair. 

Both of them kept their hair long and enjoyed tending to the maintenance of it with each other. He glided the comb through her tresses, doing a grouping at a time until her bare back was revealed. Lean muscle and scars from battle. He leaned forward, pressing his chest against her back, and wrapping his arms around her waist, just to feel her warmth, the beating of her heart.

She leaned into the touch, the sheet to fall, so she sat bare on the stool. He kissed her neck, and she sighed, spreading her legs so his hand could move down and touch the still damp curls around her sex. 

This was territory he was familiar with, he could think that this was any other time, which meant he would focus on Altena’s pleasure, just as she focused on his. 

Her hips bucked against his fingers as they slid against her folds. He smelled the mix of soap and arousal begin to take the forefront of his senses instead of the fire, as Altena moaned. He continued to kiss her skin as his fingers rubbed and stroked until he felt the slickness of her arousal coat them. He was hard, and his clothed erection rubbed up against her as he moved until Altena turned her head back and gave him a searing kiss that made him feel like a falling star. 

“Get on the bed,” Altena said, and Julius did so, removing his trousers and nightshirt as he did, until he lay on the bed, and watched his lover approach. She swung her leg over h his middle, and his eyes squeezed tight as his cock was rubbed along her sex. “It seems you’re ready to be ridden.” Her voice came soft and hissing, already showing how much he had worked her up. He had learned to do so, had studied what made her feel good, and he received so, so much more in return.

“Please…!” He choked out, thrusting up, but unable to properly align until Altena reached down, and eased him in. His hands reached up, stroking her breasts as he felt her press around him. She took a minute, letting them be combined before her hips began to work, and Julius thrust up to meet her movements. It did not take long, but it never really did, until Julius gripped harder, and Altena covered her hand over his, while his thumb worked at the nub of sensitive flesh where her folds opened, taking him in, in--

They both came with moans of satisfaction, and then lie sated, together. Julius moved first to clean up, but Altena waved him off, mumbling something about “seeing if keeping it in helped.” He couldn’t help but snort at that description but kept to her wishes.

He dressed back in his nightshirt, self-consciousness returning, even when Altena urged him back into bed. She may not notice, but Julius felt the patches of dried skin across his torso that felt like scales when he touched them, no matter how many salves he rubbed into them. 

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, and both of them slept soundly.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Altena dismounted from Zyraxes, and promptly vomited in the yard. 

When Julius rushed over to check on her, she grinned up at him in triumph, even as the spittle ran down her chin.

“I talked with a cleric: I’ve begun morning sickness.” 

* * *

Julius and Altena began cleaning out one of the unoccupied rooms, close to their own. The baby would sleep with them first, of course, but Altena said it was something to prepare for. 

“Who knows, there are plenty of rooms, our little one might have siblings that come soon after.” Altena joked as she rested her hands on her growing belly. She had asked him a few times if he wanted to touch and search for a heartbeat, but Julius refrained. It was only halfway into the pregnancy, and Altena had not yet gone on leave. 

Julius took some more carpentry tools from her arms that she had brought back, and gestured her to sit down while he worked. This was what he could contribute, and he wanted to do so the proper way. He had already fashioned some small pieces of furniture, but had left off the cradle till the end. 

“...Julius, have you thought of any names yet?” Altena asked again, as he focused on his hands work. 

“Not yet,” Julius answered simply. “We do not even know if it will be a boy or girl yet. It's hard to consider without knowing that.”

“Well, if you knew, what would you choose?” 

“...” Julius knew what he would choose. A name that was close to his mother’s. As the pregnancy progressed, Julius would think back on Empress Deirdre. The woman who gave him life, the woman who was cruelly used, and the woman he had--

No, no, not him. It wasn’t him. Even if the hands were his, the voice was his, the laughter,  _ it was not-- _

“... I would much rather they have a name from this area of Jugdral.” Julius answered, evading the question. “They are the new hope for United Thracia, after all.” 

“You know, my name isn’t from here,” Altena said. “Finn told me my mother picked it out.”

His hammer stopped.

“She made a joke about how I couldn’t get out fast enough, and that’s the name that came up. It means “close,” in the southern parts of Grannvale. Probably a name from before the first Empire--”

“--What a funny story,” Julius said. Not meaning to be curt, but trying to stop his brain from spiraling into a deeper pool of thoughts, especially when Altena was still around. “I am… I am surprised your father went along with it.”

Altena laughed. “I am, too.” Her face grew more pensive. “... I suppose he was a man of more contradictions than I’ll ever know.” 

“... Do you miss him?” 

“It’s hard to miss a man I can’t remember knowing,” Altena replied, before sitting up. “I won’t bother you as you work. Leave dinner to me.”

“Don’t burn it,” Julius said, trying to hide his worry.

“You will eat what I put there, like it or not. Part of the deal.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that was included in our vows,” Julius called back. They were not officially wed, but they did make a promise of sorts to one another, and to this day, Julius kept it in his heart. 

Altena grinned. “I add to it every day, you simply need to keep up.” 

Julius smiled back, then returned to his work. 

* * *

It was dark before Julius finished assembling the cradle. He had kept working even without sunlight. It was strange, but he did not necessarily need light to see in the dark. When he was younger, he and Julia used to play outside hours after sunset, not even realizing it went down until their mother came looking for them.

Their mother.

Mother. 

The shadows around the room grew larger around him.

**_You killed her._ **

Julius covered his ears. 

_ No, no, don’t come back. I didn’t, I didn’t.  _

**_You killed her the moment you came out of her womb. The moment we came into the world._ **

_ No, stop. Stop! You’re dead, you can’t come back! _

**_And yet you doom the woman you supposedly love to the same fate?_ ** The familiar laugh, the voice that was his and was not.  **_You’re more of a monster than I’ll ever be. Sating your appetites and never thinking of the consequences, just like the filth you are._ **

“Get out, get out, please--”

**_Please? Oh, please?? Are you that sniveling crybaby like before? Trying to play up that act again? When we both know that in that moment, you wanted to kill her, you wanted to TEAR HER TO PIECES--_ **

_ STOP! STOP IT!! _

_ “Julius?!”  _

A lantern light. A figure in the doorway.

No, no, not again.

“Leave.” Julius bit out. Altena had to leave before he hurt her too. No matter what, he couldn’t hurt her. But he was a monster, he was--

“Julius, please, let’s sit by the fire and talk--”

“Get out, now!” He roared, the cradle rocked to the floor with an audible crash. 

Altena went silent, and then the door shut behind her, leaving Julius in the shadows, alone.

* * *

When he left the room the next morning, Zyraxes was gone, along with his master. The sob he let out was one of relief. Only relief. 

So he would be alone again, and keep the world safe because of it. He wondered if supplies would still come, or maybe he would be left to fend for himself until he was nothing but a bad memory, a ghost story parents would tell their little ones. 

About a week later, he heard the sound of wyvern’s wings and rushed out. But it was not Altena.

King Leif and his Queen, Nanna of Nordion, flown to this peak by Prince Areone. 

Oh, she had asked her family to deliver the news. That made sense. 

But before he could speak, Leif marched forward, crowding into his space. Despite being only a finger’s breadth taller, the man grabbed him by the collar and shook him. 

His anger flared. “Unhand me.”

“Not until I get some sense into you.” Leif snarled. “I thought you had changed when Loptous was driven out, but you are acting like a selfish bastard. Are you going to be a husband to my sister, a father to her children, or a coward?!” 

Leif’s hands were ripped away from Julius’s shirt with almost inhuman strength. “I am not a  _ coward _ !” 

Leif stumbled back, and Julius saw him reach for his sword. But before either could move, Nanna strode forward. 

“Altena told us you said for her to leave, and she did, but she didn’t know on what grounds. We are only here for information." Nanna spoke. "Altena does not blame you.”

“... She doesn’t.” Julius asked, before shaking his head. “She should. Because of me, it could come back. It could hurt her, our children, this whole new world all of you fought for. Gone in an instant.” 

Nanna frowned. “But, Loptous--”

“It can come back,” Julius said, sounding like a man about to walk to the gallows. “As long as the blood exists, it can always come back.”

They all fell silent, save for Areon, who sent out a long whistle. 

Julius felt the earth shake around him, and he turned around, to see Altena climb down, she nearly stumbled in her speed, and he rushed to support her. Unknowingly, he clutched to her. He thought he would never see her again, and now--- he was so weak. 

“Julius,” Altena said sternly and pulled back from him to look down at his face. “I know the risks of us having a child. And I decided that they were worth it Because you are the person I chose to be with.”

“Altena, I… I am afraid,” Julius confessed, finally letting the truth come out. “What if we, if I--”

“Let me finish,” Altena said. “You know what it is like to be trapped and unable to scream, and you know how terrifying it is to be free from those invisible chains. There is no one else I want to have our child with. No one else who knows how precious that freedom is.” 

Julius was still afraid, but he knew now that he could not let that fear consume him. So all he could do is embrace her, and with his hand against her middle, feel the new life growing inside her. 

* * *

Julia arrived a week before Altena went into labor. He was grateful, as he didn’t know if he could handle the stress of delivering his own child. She simply smiled, hugged him, and told him she was proud. 

It was the first time in recent memory Julius could recall someone being proud of him. 

The birth was slow, but in the end, there were two cries: one from Altena, and one from their child. A boy. 

While Julia tended to Altena, Julius was left holding his newborn son. There was a dark tuff of hair on his head, now fluffing up after drying. Julius pressed his lips against it. It felt so soft. The softest thing he had ever touched. The baby cooed and nuzzled into the warmth his arms provided. 

It was, at that moment, that Julius felt that he could hope for a better future. 


End file.
